Three-Body Game
Enormous pendulums stood everywhere, each dozens of meters tall. Their bobs were massive stones, suspended by bundles of ropes from bridges erected between two slender stone towers.
These pendulums had stopped swinging, standing on the ground like Terracotta Warriors.
A group of people gathered beneath one of the pendulums, whispering among themselves.
"Beethoven, how is the progress? Has everything been going smoothly?" Qin Shi Huang asked.
"Everything is proceeding smoothly. According to information from our insider, Taylor is preparing to accept Von Neumann's Wallbreaker challenge at Lincoln Memorial Hall."
"What else?" someone asked Beethoven.
"Nothing else." Beethoven shook his head. "King Zhou, the Wallfacer refused the CIA's proposal to stop the Wallbreaker Operation."
King Zhou frowned and pondered for a moment before asking, "Could this be deliberate misdirection? Even if the CIA does not act based on the insider's information, other intelligence agencies in the United States can still take action."
"Probably not. Taylor knows that doing so would be meaningless," someone answered King Zhou's question.
The purpose of the staged operation was not to reveal the plan, but to kill the heart and crush the spirit—to deal Taylor a fatal blow on the psychological level.
That was precisely why they had chosen Washington Square as the site of the challenge.
"If Von Neumann is killed before breaking the wall, it will prove that humanity is truly afraid. Our ETO's Wallbreaker work so far has been highly effective, and the Lord will value us even more."
"And Von Neumann's death will not stop the wallbreaking. Taylor's plan will still be made public. Von Neumann's death will only make the world believe even more..."
"Their Wallfacer has failed again."
Sacrificing Von Neumann alone would earn them greater regard from the Lord!
ETO would prove to the Lord just how great a threat they posed to humanity!
"How exciting."
Qin Shi Huang murmured to himself. A faint smile squeezed through his meticulously stern expression, as though he could already see the utterly defeated Wallfacer several weeks from now.
Time flew by, and the day of the challenge soon arrived. Amid open and covert struggles between every side, ETO's staged operation began.
At the National Mall, Washington D.C., before Lincoln Memorial Hall, Von Neumann had arrived early and was waiting.
Besides Von Neumann, there was also a huge crowd of spectators.
ETO had deliberately spread the news. The message that "Wallfacer Taylor will be broken by an ETO Wallbreaker at Washington Square" spread like a virus, reaching the entirety of the United States in just one day, then spreading across the world through various social media platforms by noon the following day.
ETO had not done anything particularly complicated. They had merely released the news. The forces truly fanning the flames and accelerating its spread were the various capital interests in the United States, such as the capital behind Washington Square.
Admission tickets here had repeatedly risen in price because of ETO's staged operation. On the day of the decisive battle, they had climbed to seven thousand dollars each.
Yet even so, the place remained packed. Seven thousand dollars could not dampen the spectators' enthusiasm in the slightest.
A convoy of black presidential cars stopped by the roadside. A group of bodyguards in black suits stepped out, parting the dense crowd and clearing a broad path.
Lin Feng stepped out of one of the presidential cars, followed closely by several CIA agents responsible for his safety, and entered the National Mall, Washington D.C.
Seeing Lin Feng arrive, Von Neumann politely bowed to him.
"You are late, Taylor. I thought you would not come today."
"Ah, being a Wallfacer is exhausting. Every day, I have to use an extremely unhealthy lifestyle of partying and debauchery to confuse the Trisolarans. If I had not read today's newspaper, I might have forgotten about all of you. My apologies."
He said he was sorry, but there was not the slightest hint of apology in his words. Von Neumann felt only a heavy smell of gunpowder.
"I understand. To use the recent popular phrase, Wallfacers follow the 007 Work System, working twenty-four hours a day. Actually, I am the same." Von Neumann hesitated before continuing. "Um... if I remember correctly, the 007 Work Systems currently used by countries around the world were originally proposed by you, weren't they?"
The many expressions that had filled the faces of the onlookers gradually disappeared.
The air became stifling and silent, like a live volcano that could erupt at any moment.
No one knew who first shattered the oppressive silence, but in an instant, the crowd erupted.
"What?!"
"The 007 Work System was proposed by a Wallfacer?!"
"You hateful demon!"
"You beast!"
"How could he do something like that? I used to trust him so much!"
Quite a few people were eager to rush forward and beat Lin Feng senseless, but the bodyguards who had accompanied him here stopped them.
These bodyguards were elites drawn from the military and police. Not only were they strong and sturdy, every one of them was an expert fighter.
Of course, another reason was that there were not yet enough spectators present. If there had been several times more people, the situation truly would have become uncontrollable.
Von Neumann continued speaking as though no one else were there. "You know that we ETO members also need food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. We need to work normally in society and earn wages."
"The 007 Work System leaves most of All Humanity too exhausted to think much, and that includes us ETO members hidden within human society. You hoped to use this to stop us from breaking your wall..."
At the end of the day, ETO members were human too. As long as they were human, they needed to eat, drink, sleep, and answer nature's call.
Therefore, if ETO members wanted to survive, they could only earn money through labor like everyone else and cover their daily expenses.
The 007 Work System promoted by Lin Feng affected the entire world. ETO could not escape it and could only be forced into overtime work.
Everyone in ETO believed this was Lin Feng's scheme. However, Lin Feng had genuinely never considered such a thing.
Huh? What is he talking about?
Using the 007 Work System to stop ETO from breaking my wall? Since when did that happen?
Lin Feng's expression did not change. The other side was praising him; if he showed any unusual reaction, would that not make him seem less intelligent than an ETO operative?
Seeing no reaction from Lin Feng, the Wallbreaker across from him naturally took it as confirmation and smiled confidently.
"Unfortunately, you miscalculated. We still completed the Wallbreaker Operation against your plan, even with you resorting to such a method."
"Do you know why we chose Lincoln Memorial Hall?"
"All people are born equal. In the past, he defeated the slaveholders and freed the Black slaves. Today, I too will defeat the slaveholders of this new era and liberate All Humanity."
After hearing that, Lin Feng did not know what to say for a moment.
Damn it!
Where did you anti-humanity scum get the nerve to make yourselves sound so righteous?
You ETO traitors even betrayed your own species. Where did you find the gall to stand here and lecture me about human rights?
Before you continue